Postbac vs. extra year of undergrad

<p>I am currently an Economics major at a highly-ranked liberal arts school in MD. Rising Junior. Current GPA is 3.0, it is low due to medical issues Freshman year. I want to attend medical school, but I'm not sure what is the best way to pursue this. 1.) Graduate on time with an Econ degree and go to a postbac program, 2.) graduate on time with an Econ degree and med school prereqs, or 3.) spend an extra year in undergrad and graduate with an Econ and Biology major. </p>

<p>I haven't taken any classes towards med prereqs/bio major thus far. Also, money is not a consideration in any of these options.</p>

<p>Any other advice?</p>

<p>If you’re an incoming junior and you haven’t taken any med/bio-type classes at all, I question whether an extra year would even get you all those courses. A lot of them often require long prerequisite chains starting at the freshman year.</p>

<p>I would think a postbac program would be your best bet.</p>

<p>I would be able to finish in an extra year, that includes taking classes over the summer. And yes, the summer courses are at a 4-year.</p>

<p>What is your sophomore GPA? 1 and 2 seem like your best bets. Have you taken any of your required pre-med classes yet?</p>

<p>1 or 3 would be your best bets. Your GPA is too low right now to be viable candidate for med school and you’ll need the extra time to raise your GPA.</p>

<p>What is your current sGPA? (GPA of all biology, chemistry, MATH and physics courses.) While you likely haven’t taken any science classes, as an econ major, you undoubtedly have some math credits. </p>

<p>In addition to med school pre-reqs, you’ll need medical ECs (hospital volunteering, physician shadowing, community service, lab or clinical research). And you’ll to develop stron working relationships with several of your science profs so you can get the requisites 3-4 LORs from your science profs.</p>

<p>if you can earn A’s throughout the rest of your college career (raising your gpa to a ~3.5), and find time for medical-related EC’s, a post bac would be great.</p>